Blue Jays Injury Updates: Will either of these two pitchers make any meaningful appearances for Toronto in 2025?

Ever since Max Scherzer went down to an injury during his debut with his new club, along with the struggles of Bowden Francis, the Toronto Blue Jays have been constantly searching for viable starting pitching options to help out the team. Scherzer returned this week, but whether the health of his right thumb can hold up will be the question. At the same time, Francis currently remains on the IL due to a right shoulder impingement and has been shut down from throwing.

As a result, the Blue Jays will still need some starting pitching depth heading down the stretch run. Of course, they can find some help via the trade route, but they also have two potential options that may be ready soon after being on the IL for an extended period of time; Adam Macko and Alek Manoah.

Blue Jays Injury Updates: Will either of these two pitchers make any meaningful appearances for Toronto in 2025?

Starting with Macko, if the Jays were still hoping for some residual value from the disastrous Teoscar Hernández trade with the Seattle Mariners after, it will have to come from the 24-year-old left-handed pitching prospect. Macko has spent the past three seasons in the Jays minor league system and has yet to make his major league debut with the club. 

He had a grand opportunity to make the big league team in training camp, but a meniscus tear in his left knee in February kept him on the sidelines up until May. After a rehabilitation stint with the FCL Blue Jays, Macko is now back with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. However, some inconsistency in his command has led to an 0-2 record with a less-than-stellar 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, a whopping seven walks but with an impressive 13 strikeouts in 11 total innings of work thus far. 

In addition, despite his potential, Macko has yet to post an ERA below four during four of his past five minor league seasons. So the Jays will likely want to give the promising lefty some more time to fully develop his game and not rush him to the big leagues. If Macko were to eventually make it this year, it will likely be in the capacity of a reliever, likely as a September callup.

As for Manoah, he could be a totally different story. Last season, the 27-year-old right-hander actually showed glimpses of his old dominant form when he compiled a 3.70 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, along with 26 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings in five starts. However, his comeback year was derailed when he had to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. That injury has since kept him on the sidelines but he has been throwing live bullpen sessions recently in Florida according to MLB.com and could be on track to return some time this August during the stretch run.

Unlike Macko, Manoah can potentially do exactly what Hyun Jin Ryu did for the Jays back in 2023. When Ryu returned from Tommy John surgery that season, he helped fill a void in their back end of the rotation. In doing so, he went 3-3 with a solid 3.46 ERA in his 11 starts and ended up helping the Jays make the postseason. So perhaps Manoah can follow that same footprint and become a key addition to their rotation for the final two months of 2025 and also help Toronto get back into the playoffs this year.